


Mourning Lullaby

by SkyEventide



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: "the twins", Gen, tbh Elrond&Elros and Amrod&Amras could be just considered as the same entity here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:10:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyEventide/pseuds/SkyEventide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maglor sings to the twins. Which twins he is thinking of, that is another question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mourning Lullaby

The twins would not listen to what he had to say; yes, they would pay heed to short sentences, but not long conversations. Not that Maglor would even try. Forcing words out of his mouth was not something he had ever done, and even hypocrisy had a limit. But Maglor also knew that he had a way to still protest, destroy reluctance, and win attention, and that way had never failed him.

So he sang, and they would listen. Without words, at first, and maybe they resented the beauty of the sound; it could be like suddenly hearing an Orc warble like a fair bird. But even though, when he talked, now he did it quietly (for he had learnt there was no reason to yell anymore), even though the eternal youth of his face was now flawed (his eye sockets were heavier, his complexion paler), his vocal chords had never ceased to be perfect.

He sang to give them the sleep they would have otherwise avoided. Seeing them resting gave him a justification to keep them in that room. To give them relief, or give it to himself, until he realised that it was the same thing.

The first time he added words, they were already sleeping, and he did it tentatively. He knew many lullabies, and even those that he did not know he could invent right on the spot, but the one that he would sing came to him from old memories. Songs, after all, were always made of memories.

He sang of twins, then. Twins in their cradles, alike in their face, finally lying their brilliant, weary heads on the pillows. Twins coddled and relished and protected, who will grow up like princes. Maglor reminded himself for whom that song had been once written, and changed the melody to something like a mourning lament.

When he left the room, he found that Maedhros was in the corridor, and he halted. His brother slept rarely or at all, did not come close to the twins’ room; his brother had eyes like steel and wrinkles like an Adan, and the last time Maglor had seen tears in his eyes was a day that belonged to another time. Maedhros approached him, but the rest of his face was as stoic as ever. « I am almost appalled. »

Maglor held his breath and realised he was not feeling any shame. He knew that he would forget they were the substitutes for his minor salvation. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by [this fanart](http://tosquinha.tumblr.com/post/96093734482/okay-dont-mind-me-but-what-if-maedhros-is-so-sad-bc#notes), that reminded me of an old headcanon of mine about Maglor thinking of the Ambarussar while in the presence of Elrond and Elros. The fanart is actually pretty funny, I went for angst-fest and fucked-upness. Not sure I’m completely satisfied with the result (Maglor is a very unreliable narrator at this point.) 
> 
> If you feel a little bit shocked that he sang a lament for the Ambarussar, when Elrond and Elros are there also because of them, and that he did it in the form of a lullaby, then I wrote it right.


End file.
